hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus affects one in every 500 live births, making it one of the most common birth defects, even more common than Down's syndrome or deafness. According to the NIH website, there are an estimated 700,000 children and adults living with hydrocephalus, and it is the leading cause of brain surgery for children in the United States. There are over 180 different causes of the condition, one of the most common being brain hemorrhage associated with premature birth.

The only treatment for hydrocephalus, the shunt, has not changed since it was developed in 1960. The shunt must be implanted through neurosurgery into the patient's brain, a procedure which itself may cause brain damage. An estimated 50% of all shunts fail within two years, requiring further surgery to replace the shunts. Nearly half of all shunted children score below 80 on standardized intelligence tests, and only half of the children with hydrocephalus attend mainstream schools.

In the United States, the health care costs for hydrocephalus exceed $1 billion per year, but is still much less funded than research on other diseases such as juvenile diabetes. ^{citation needed]}

Symptoms of hydrocephalus

Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure may include headaches, vomiting, nausea, papilledema, sleepiness, or coma. Elevated intracranial pressure may result in uncal and/or cerebellar tonsill herniation, with resulting life threatening brain stem compression. For details on other manifestations of increased intracranial pressure:

Main article: intracranial pressure

The triad of gait instability, urinary incontinence and dementia is a relatively typical manifestation of the distinct entity normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). Focal neurological deficits may also occur, such as abducens nerve palsy and vertical gaze palsy (Parrinaud syndrome due to compression of the quadrigeminal plate, where the neural centers coordinating the conjugated vertical eye movement are located).

Main article: normal pressure hydrocephalus

Effects

Because hydrocephalus injures the brain, thought and behavior may be adversely affected. Learning disabilities are common among those with hydrocephalus, who tend to score better on verbal IQ than on performance IQ, which is thought to reflect the distribution of nerve damage to the brain. However, the severity of hydrocephalus differs considerably between individuals and some are of average or above average intelligence. Someone with hydrocephalus may have motivation and visual problems, problems with co-ordination, and may be clumsy. They may hit puberty earlier than the average. About one in four develops epilepsy.

Because the problem resides inside the head, doctors rely heavily upon computer tomography scanning (CT scans), which may be used frequently to evaluate the condition of the disorder throughout the patient's life. Each CT scan exposes the patient to many times the level of x-ray radiation of a chest x-ray. See CT radiation exposure.

Treatment

Hydrocephalus treatment is surgical. It involves the placement of a ventricular catheter (a tube made of silastic), into the cerebral ventricles to bypass the flow obstruction/malfunctioning arachnoidal granulations and drain the excess fluid into other body cavities, from where it can be resorbed. Most shunts drain the fluid into the peritoneal cavity (ventriculo-peritoneal shunt), but alternative sites include the right atrium (ventriculo-atrial shunt), pleural cavity (ventriculo-pleural shunt), and gallbladder. A shunt system can also be placed in the lumbar space of the spine and have the csf redirected to the peritoneal cavity(LP Shunt). An alternative treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus in selected patients is the endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), whereby a surgically created opening in the floor of the third ventricle allows the CSF to flow directly to the basal cisterns, thereby shortcutting any obstruction, as in aqueductal stenosis. This may or may not be appropriate based on individual anatomy.

Shunt complications

Examples of possible complications include shunt malfunction, shunt failure, and shunt infection.

Although a shunt generally works well, it may stop working if it disconnects, becomes blocked, or it is outgrown. If this happens the cerebrospinal fluid will begin to accumulate again and a number of physical symptoms will develop, some extremely serious, like seizures.

The shunt failure rate is also relatively high and it is not uncommon for patients to have multiple shunt revisions within their lifetime.

The diagnosis of cerebro-spinal buildup is complex and requires expertise.

Types of hydrocephalus and what causes them (Aetiology)

Hydrocephalus can be caused by impaired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow, reabsorption, or excessive CSF production.

• The most common cause of hydrocephalus is CSF flow obstruction, hindering the free passage of cerebrospinal fluid through the ventricular system and subarachnoid space (e.g., stenosis of the cerebral aqueduct or obstruction of the interventricular foraminae - foramen of Monroe secondary to tumors, hemorrhages, infections or congenital malformations).

• Hydrocephalus can also be caused by overproduction of cerebrospinal fluid (relative obstruction) (e.g., papilloma of choroid plexus).

Based on its underlying mechanisms, hydrocephalus can be classified into communicating, and non-communicating (obstructive). Both communicating and non-communicating forms can be either congenital, or acquired.

Communicating hydrocephalus

Communicating hydrocephalus, also known as non-obstructive hydrocephalus, is caused by impaired cerebrospinal fluid resorption in the absence of any CSF-flow obstruction. It has been theorized that this is due to functional impairment of the arachnoid granulations, which are located along the superior sagittal sinus and is the site of cerebrospinal fluid resorption back into the venous system. Various neurologic conditions may result in communicating hydrocephalus, including subarachnoid/intraventricular hemorrhage, meningitis, Chiari malformation, and congenital absence of arachnoidal granulations (Pacchioni's granulations).

• Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a particular form of communicating hydrocephalus, characterized by enlarged cerebral ventricles, with only intermittently elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure. The diagnosis of NPH can be established only with the help of continuous intraventricular pressure recordings (over 24 hours or even longer), since more often than not, instant measurements yield normal pressure values. Dynamic compliance studies may be also helpful. Altered compliance (elasticity) of the ventricular walls, as well as increased viscosity of the cerebrospinal fluid, may play a role in the pathogenesis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Main article: normal pressure hydrocephalus

• Hydrocephalus ex vacuo also refers to an enlargement of cerebral ventricles and subarachnoid spaces, and is usually due to brain atrophy (as it occurs in dementias), post-traumatic brain injuries and even in some psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. As opposed to hydrocephalus, this is a compensatory enlargement of the CSF-spaces in response to brain parenchyma loss - it is not the result of increased CSF pressure.

Non-communicating hydrocephalus

Non-communicating hydrocephalus, or obstructive hydrocephalus, is caused by a CSF-flow obstruction (either due to external compression or intraventricular mass lesions).

• Foramen of Monro obstruction may lead to dilation of one or, if large enough (e.g., in colloid cyst), both lateral ventricles.
• Aqueduct of Sylvius, normally narrow to begin with, may be obstructed by a number of genetically or acquired lesions (e.g., atresia, ependymitis, hemorrhage, tumor) and lead to dilatation of both lateral ventricles as well as the third ventricle.
• Fourth ventricle obstruction will lead to dilatation of the aqueduct as well as the lateral and third ventricles.
• Foramina of Luschka and Magendie may be obstructed due to congenital failure of opening (e.g., Dandy-Walker malformation).
• Subarachnoid space surrounding the brainstem may also be obstructed due to inflammatory or hemorrhagic fibrosing meningitis, leading to widespread dilatation, including the fourth ventricle.

Congenital hydrocephalus

The cranial bones fuse by the end of the third year of life. For head enlargement to occur, hydrocephalus must occur before then. The causes are usually genetic but can also be acquired and usually occur within the first few months of life, which include 1) intraventricular matrix hemorrhages in premature infants, 2) infections, 3) type II Arnold-Chiari malformation, 4) aqueduct atresia and stenosis, and 5) Dandy-Walker malformation.

Main articles: Arnold-Chiari malformation and Dandy-Walker malformation

In newborns and toddlers with hydrocephalus, the head circumference is enlarged rapidly and soon surpases the 97th%. Since the skull bones have not yet firmly joined together, bulging, firm anterior and posterior fontanelles may be present even when the patient is in an upright position.

The infant exhibits fretfulness, poor feeding, and frequent vomiting. As the hydrocephalus progresses, torpor sets in, and the infants shows lack of interest in his surroundings. Later on, the upper eyelids become retracted and the eyes are turned downwards (due to hydrocephalic pressure on the mesencephalic tegmentum and paralysis of upward gaze). Movements become weak and the arms may become tremulous. Papilledema is absent but there may be reduction of vision. The head becomes so enlarged that the child may eventually be bedridden.

About 80-90% of fetuses or newborn infants with spina bifida - often associated with meningocele or myelomeningocele - develop hydrocephalus.

Acquired hydrocephalus

This condition is acquired as a consequence of CNS-infections, meningitis, brain tumors, head trauma, intracranial hemorrhage (subarachnoid or intraparenchymal) and is usually extremely painful for the patient.

History

Hydrocephalus was first described by Hippocrates, but it remained an intractable condition until the 20th century, when shunts and other neurosurgical treatment modalities were developed. It is often informally referred to as 'water on the brain'. Most patients with hydrocephalus find this term offensive, however.^{citation needed]}

Related pages

• Acquired hydrocephalus (causes of it)
  • CNS-infections
  • Meningitis
  • Brain tumors
  • Head trauma
  • Intracranial hemorrhage
• Arachnoid granulation
• Brain
• Cerebrospinal fluid
• Intracranial pressure
• Normal pressure hydrocephalus
• Shunt
• Spina bifida
• Subarachnoid space
• Ventricles

External links

• What is hydrocephalus?
• Symptoms of hydrocephalus
• Effects of hydrocephalus
• Treating hydrocephalus
• Shunt malfunction
• Hydrocephalus links
• International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF), the umbrella organisation for national spina bifida and hydrocephalus organisations
• Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati: Fetal Surgery: Ventriculo-Peritoneal Shunting for Hydrocephalus
• Information on Fetal Hydrocephalus
• Hydrocephalus Association